How to Deflect in Nioh 3

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In Nioh 3, blocking and dodging are key to avoiding damage, but players can also parry attacks to open up opportunities for powerful counterattacks. While parrying works much like in other similar games – timing your block perfectly results in a parry – Nioh 3 offers more ways to achieve it. However, parrying isn’t automatically available, so here’s how to unlock this useful skill.

Unlocking the Parry Skill in Nioh 3

You can learn to perfectly block attacks—called Deflect—by unlocking the skill in the Samurai skill tree. It costs 1 Samurai’s Lock, which you usually get by finding and petting a Scampuss. The Deflect skill is located on the right side of the Samurai tree, and it only works when you’re using the Samurai Style.

Blocking an attack at the right moment significantly lowers your opponent’s stamina. If you deplete their stamina, they’ll be stunned, allowing you to deliver a powerful final strike. Successfully blocking also restores your own stamina and prevents you from taking damage.

Can You Parry as a Ninja in Nioh 3?

While you can parry as a Ninja, it works differently than with the Samurai style. To parry while in Ninja Style, you’ll need to unlock these skills:

  • Evade (Ninja Tree): The direct counterpart of Deflect; dodge at the perfect time to restore Ki.
  • Impenetrability (Tonfa Tree): Allows perfect blocking while using Tonfas.
  • Opportunist (Talons Tree): Block an enemy attack and follow up with a counter-punch.
  • Haze (Ninja Swords): Redirects the enemy’s attack.
  • Spinning Gale (Dual Blades): Blocks an attack then kicks the enemy away.
  • Tile Shaker (Hatchets): Block and redirect your enemy.
  • Masterful Guard (Kusarigama): Perfectly blocks attacks and knocks enemies off-balance.

These abilities function similarly to the standard Samurai Deflect, but some also move enemies around or create opportunities for more powerful counterattacks.

Burst Break

Burst Break is a special counterattack that only works against attacks you can’t normally block. When an enemy glows red, pressing the R2 (PlayStation), RT (Xbox), or R (PC) button at the right moment will activate Burst Break. This completely avoids the attack and significantly reduces the enemy’s Ki, often staggering them or leaving them vulnerable.

As a player, I’ve found that hitting the Burst Break button also changes my Style, which can be a little disruptive sometimes. Luckily, the game lets you change this in the Controls menu! There’s an option called ‘Style Shift & Burst Break Separation’ – if you turn that on, it’ll keep those actions separate so I can use them independently.

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2026-02-06 13:34